A group of people with a shared interest, purpose or goal, who get to know each other over time.

Do you agree? Should online communities have a specific purpose for gathering? Is it important to state the mission and/or vision for being together publicly or privately, right up front? If you run a e-community what was your approach - how did you articulate this ability to meet their unmet needs?

Are any of the groups you belong to made up of people from a specific niche?

Think about some of the groups you belong to versus others, was the function made immediately clear to you or did it look like they were just collecting people? Can you give any concrete examples?

Knowing how to reach people is not the same as knowing the membership's needs nor is it knowing why they are there with you, nor even if you're providing them with what they want.

And on a slightly different note but similar theme, how about badges or the various other ways members show their team colors to the world - are these good for developing group identity?

Best, Karenne

This posting is part of the Crowd Wise series and is in part my preparation for the swap-shop I will be hosting on web-based communities at the IATEFL conference in Harrogate, April 8th 2010. Your answers, as brief or as in-depth as you'd like to be, is very much appreciated!

Note: if you would like to participate in this conversation anonymously, please do feel free to do so. Alternatively, if you would like to specifically mention an online educational community when making reference to your experiences, adding your group's name and/or its URL, you are most welcome to!